Mel Bay, founder and first president of Mel Bay Publications, Inc., was born in Bunker, Missouri and died at age 84 in 1997. He raised in DeSoto where as a teenager he taught himself how to play the guitar and performed regularly with various Ozark region bands.
Upon moving to St. Louis, Mel took up the tenor banjo and became a highly sought after musician and teacher. He began writing guitar methods in 1947. His method books grew in popularity worldwide and laid the foundation for most of today's guitar pedagogy. Guitar Player magazine referred to him as "the George Washington of the guitar."
Mel Bay established the structure for modern guitar education and by so doing, laid the foundation for the continued growth and advancement of the instrument.
Mel Bay, founder and first president of Mel Bay Publications, Inc., was born in Bunker, Missouri and died at age 84 in 1997. He raised in DeSoto where as a teenager he taught himself how to play the guitar and performed regularly with various Ozark region bands.
Upon moving to St. Louis, Mel took up the tenor banjo and became a highly sought after musician and teacher. He began writing guitar methods in 1947. His method books grew in popularity worldwide and laid the foundation for most of today's guitar pedagogy. Guitar Player magazine referred to him as "the George Washington of the guitar."
Mel Bay established the structure for modern guitar education and by so doing, laid the foundation for the continued growth and advancement of the instrument.
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